


we laugh, we cry (and sometimes we fight ourselves to do what's right)

by TheDancingDragon81



Category: The Rescuers (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But I don't care, Character Study, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Gift Fic, Guilty Jake, He just doesn't think so, I also really should probably sleep, I want a beta, I'll edit this tomorrow morning, I'm just making this up so I'm probably wrong, Jake is a good mouse, Jake-centric, No beta we wrangle snakes like jake, Okay so this chapter is mainly just Jake being sad, Sort Of, The other characters will show up more later, Wait what would that tag be for this fandom..., as will hugs, but it's gonna get better I swear, no beta we die like robins, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25916032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDancingDragon81/pseuds/TheDancingDragon81
Summary: The guilt resurfaces moments later. Cody probably wouldn’t be okay either. Not straight away. Jake reasons with himself that Ankle-biters were resilient things, he’d be alright eventually… but what about before eventually? When the shock wears off and the memories of gunshots and a sea of writhing, snapping jaws start to hit home. The kid was probably going to have nightmares for the rest of his life.That’s on him.(Or I wanted to write a rescuers fanfic about Jake and now he's both sad and guilty, but don't worry because he won't stay that way)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	we laugh, we cry (and sometimes we fight ourselves to do what's right)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MashpotatoeQueen5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MashpotatoeQueen5/gifts).



> I have not really looked this over at all so it's probably riddled with mistakes- oops. I'll fix it soon I swear. Let me know if you find any. I also need to sleep so I'm going to go do that now. Buh bye.

Bernard is the one to extend the offer to him, it is a little strained of course but there is no malice in his smile. Not that there ever was, but Jake’s no fool to believe that his first impression and the lack of respect he’d had for this crazy yank had allowed for much camaraderie between the two. Not until he’d gotten the wool pulled from over his eyes; saved from death by this quiet unremarkable grey mouse that he’d never bothered to give the time of day. _Not until he’d given up hope, until he’d found his heart scrabbling to burst out of his chest as the ever-constant mantra of ‘failure_ , _you’re a failure, it’s all your fault’ screamed in his ears. Because it was. This was on him. If only he’d been faster. If only he’d been smarter. Then maybe they would’ve been able to escape this situation.  
  
_ The adrenaline is still coursing through his body, his tail thumping louder than necessary from since before they dropped off the ankle biter. It’s a thrill that he tries to clamp down on. There was a freedom in the wilds that always seemed to spur him to life. It’s unlikely that his two companions notice, if they do they don’t say anything.

Despite this, he says no. Shaking his head with a cocky grin and a suave wink in the direction of Bernard’s Hungarian counterpart as she waves from her seat upon the darned albatross. _Ah now there’s a mouse who’s got her head screwed on straight. Bernard’s a lucky bloke for sure._

“It’s not for me mate.” He lies. Stretching his phony smile a little further and ignoring the soft disbelieving buzz of Sparky beside him. “Someone’s got to watch over the flats, lest we get anymore of you crazy yanks trying to crash into my airport.”

Bernard shakes his hand with a shrug and a smile and doesn’t ask again. “Well, if you change your mind you know where to find us.” Jake pushes down the bitter feeling that wells up inside him and informs him it’s because they didn’t really want him in the first place. They wouldn’t lie to him like that- these mice. They’re… good. Heroic. _Genuine._

He’s sitting in the shade of a nearby gumtree, flipping his boomerang absentmindedly between his paws, watching them disappear over the horizon when his smile finally fades, and he lets his ears droop. Bugger. He’d made the right choice. He knew that. It wasn’t the choice he wanted, but it was for the best probably. He wasn’t cut out for this whole rescuer business. Not unless those kinds of missions usually involved snake wrangling and killer goannas.

Jake relays as much to Sparky who nudges his side in irritation, clearly dissatisfied with his reasoning.

“Oi, stop that.” He swats at him with his hat. But Sparky just nudges him again, the fly clearly not buying whatever Jake is selling. 

Seeing as he clearly isn’t going to be able to have a quick kip this arvo Jake clambers to his feet with a dash of snark. “Alright, fine you crazy mosquito. I’m getting up now- Happy?”

_It’s not like they’d have any more arrivals today anyway_. The supply run was usually only once a month, sometimes twice if they were stuck in a drought.

Eyeing off the position of the setting sun Jake does a quick note of how long he has left before night sets in. He could make it. Just one final check on the kiddo to make sure he got home alright after they left him at the ranger station.   
  


* * *

  
He makes it just as the moon is beginning to rise and the cool air of the night is beginning to seep in past his layers of protective fur. He hops up and perches himself on the windowsill, pressing his nose against the dusty glass.

Cody’s out like a light. Kid's fast asleep in his nest of old clothes and soft toys piled on top of his hammock, but it doesn’t take Jake long to realise that he’s not the only one who’s checking up on the kid. There’s a woman who keeps reappearing in the doorway, the mother if he had to guess. Her eyes are red rimmed from crying, and whilst Jake’s always avoided tried to avoid adults, there’s a sort of tightness building in his chest as he switches his gaze from her to Cody. It’s uncomfortable.

He hadn’t given much thought before, to how the mother must have felt. Too caught up in the excitement of an adventure to realise that someone else might be hurting too, not just Cody. She'd thought her child dead. Probably spent the week in mourning. 

That horrible nasty little whisper of a voice lurking in the back of his mind reminds him that until those two mice had come along, Jake had been perfectly complicit. He’d known that _that monster_ had kidnapped a kid; The outback is a hard place to keep secrets after all. He’d known and he’d _ignored_ it. Written it off as unimportant rumours. And the thought that they almost didn’t save this one…

There’s a lump growing in his throat and Jake has to turn away as she opens the door once more to Cody’s room. Pressing his paw to window he offers a near silent whisper of an apology. It’s not enough he knows. He should’ve been better. _He wasn’t._ He wasn’t like them- His new friends. There’s a guilty moment where he knows that he’s probably never going to be like them. _He wants to be._ But he’s an adventurer, the type who doesn’t always think about the consequences, about other people. _He tries_. But sometimes there’s just too much excitement; Creatures to wrangle, sheilas to flirt with, distractions that take his attention away, and of course stupid stunts to bolster his own ego. The guilt resurfaces moments later. Cody probably wouldn’t be okay either. Not straight away. Jake reasons with himself that Ankle-biters were resilient things, he’d be alright eventually… but what about before eventually? When the shock wears off and the memories of gunshots and a sea of writhing, snapping jaws start to hit home. The kid was probably going to have nightmares for the rest of his life.

That’s on him.

If he hadn’t waited until the rescue society had shown up, if he’d maybe investigated the rumours when they’d first reached his ears. Maybe he could’ve saved the kid from that too.

The door to Cody’s room opens again.

Jake leaves.

And then he stops. Adjusts his hat.

He would never be like them. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try.   
  


* * *

  
There is a hot cup of tea sitting on the kitchen table when she returns from Cody’s room for the umpteenth time, and something in her just freezes at the sight of it. _Her son is alive._

She must have made it sometime in the last five minutes, but for the life of her she can’t remember when. _Her son is still here._ It’s strange, she could have sworn that this cup hadn’t had a chip in it, but things happen, especially with a child in the house. _Her son is alive._ It would be impossible for her to remember every little crack in a house that’s held a lifetime of wear and tear.

She takes a sip. The brew is a little stronger than what she usually makes and missing the usual dash of milk but it’s somewhat grounding as once again tears spring forth against her will. Her son is _alive_. Cody is home and he is alive, and nothing else matters. Not now. Not today. Not ever. 


End file.
